Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the situation in Darfur, western Sudan

Brussels, 26 May 2004 - The European Union welcomes the decision by the Government of Sudan to lift restrictions on humanitarian agency workers travelling to Darfur. The EU expects that the Sudanese authorities will implement the decision expeditiously and that access to Darfur for humanitarian agencies will be unhindered at all levels.

The European Union is deeply troubled by the recent report of the acting UN High Commissioner on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the Darfur region. The European Union calls on the Government of Sudan to publicly condemn the actions of the Janjaweed militias in Darfur and bring the militias under control. The Government of Sudan has a responsibility to effectively protect local populations and IDPs from gross abuses by armed groups. The EU welcomes the establishment by the Government of Sudan of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate human rights violations by armed groups in Darfur and expects that swift action will be taken on findings of the Commission.

The European Union commends the work of the UN Office for the Co- ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in highlighting the humanitarian crisis in Darfur and expresses its strong commitment to work with the UN to combat malnutrition, disease and the threat of famine in the Darfur region. The EU welcomes OCHA's decision to convene a donors' meeting on 3 June in Geneva and will participate fully in the occasion.

The EU fully supports the work of the African Union to establish a cease-fire commission and monitoring mechanism for the Darfur region. The EU strongly urges all parties to co-operate fully with the AU and to participate in co-ordination meetings as scheduled.

The Candidate Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this declaration.